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Monday, February 25, 2013

He Inspires Me

When Holley asked that we share about someone who inspires us, I knew that I had to share my warrior's story. He inspires me in so many ways.He inspires me to dream big dreams.He inspires me to believe that God can do anything.He inspires me to keep going even when it's hard.Here is just part of D's story.My husband has always been very athletic. When we were dating, it was running on the
basketball court and then in later years it was running in
marathons.

That all
changed a few years ago in a moment that we will never forget.

Very early one
morning rain quickly changed to freezing rain. We were coming in from warming up
our cars when we heard a car crash into the yard of our neighbor. Concerned that
there might be children in the car since they hadn't called off school yet,
D went to go see if he could help. I had gone inside to check the news for
school cancellations. I wasn't inside long when there was a knock at the door
with news that rocked my world.

Our neighbor
had come to tell me that D had been hit by another car that slid down the
hill. I ran to the scene of the accident to find D on the ground beside
several vehicles involved in the accident. All he kept saying was, "Wendy, I
can't feel my legs." over and over. Someone had called an ambulance, but it took
some time due to the roads being so bad. D's dad went with him in the
ambulance while I stayed home with the boys. I found out afterwards that the
ambulance had taken longer than expected to get him to the hospital as they had
an accident on the way there.

When the call
from the hospital finally came, the doctor told me that among other injuries
D's pelvis was broken in five places. They debated on taking him to surgery
which would involved pins and such, but in the end decided to try and let the
breaks heal on their own. ﻿Donnie was in the hospital for weeks and was then
transferred to rehab for a few more weeks.

D came
home in a wheelchair. For a man who had always been so active, this was a very
hard time for him. He went to physical therapy several times a week and
eventually graduated to a walker. On one of his last visits to his doctor,
D asked the question that he had been wrestling with:

"Will I ever
be back to normal?" The doctor told him that he would always have pain
associated with the injury and that he would be able to walk, but would never be
able to run another marathon.

Let me tell
you something about this amazing man that I am married to - he believes that God
still does miracles. For several months he trained for the
very thing that his doctor told him that he would never be able to do. He
believed that God would heal him and give him the strength to do this. D ran a marathon and he gives God all the glory for being able to
do so. Not only
did D finish the race, but he topped his
age group in the fastest time.